Butterfly Effect
by Emi Koizumi
Summary: Imagine the game with an added player. Do you think the outcome will be the same? Puhuhuh I guess we'll find out! This is a DanganRonpa v3 Killing Harmony fanfiction! It will have ocxcanon Keep in mind that things will be extremely different compared to the game. This involves victim of trials, order of trials, and also new trials being added in!
1. Chapter 1

Shuichi sighed and laid down on the long grass in the maintaince area of the school... It was nighttime, so the exisal wasn't working here...

 _And I don't have to worry about bugs._ He thought reassuringly to himself, remembering Gonta's dissatisfaction at the lack of bugs. Shuichi had always wanted to just lay in long grass, feeling the cold night wind run through his hair. But he couldn't help but remember his mother would scold him over it. He couldn't help but chuckle at the memory...

At least he had some memories that weren't stolen. He took a deep breath. The Nighttime announcement had to of been a few hours ago... Despite the events of today, he couldn't bring himself to sleep... He lifted up his hand to block the bright moon in the sky. His hat obscured his eyesight a tad, but he didn't mind.

"... Kaede.." He whispered her name, moving his hand faintly. She had just been with him that morning. "... Damnit..!" His hand fell down to his face, knocking his hat off. "... Damnit.." He choked out another curse.

"Shuichi?" A voice made him jolt, but he quickly wiped away the tears that were forming in his eyes. He sat up and looked over at the voice. A short girl stood on the sidewalk, her eyes brimming with worry over the young detective. She had long wavy gentle red hair, with a hint of pink near the tips that she styled to lay over her shoulder. A white cashmere beret was on her head, a large brown button decorated on it. Her outfit was very theatrical. Her white outfit was long and wispy, almost ghost like with the nighttime feel. The shirt was open shoulder, with greek like decorations at the end of the holes. Asides from that she wore just normal leggings, although there were tears here and there from the struggle of that day. She had on a cute, but handmade button necklace as well.

She blinked, confused. Her face was slim, freakles splattered across her nose. Her eyes were a bright blue, almost silver. "What are you doing?"

"Ah..." His mouth opened to say her name, but he froze. Her name was Kaida Kakinoki. He couldn't help but remember when her and Kaede met...

"Ahaha~" The memory came flooding back to him. Kaede's laugh was nice to hear, even in memory.. She had just met Kaida and they both hit it off, which wasn't hard for the bubbly Kaeda. "Our names are so similar!" She said excitingly to the girl. "Although you're much cuter."

Shuichi opened his mouth to interrupt but the girl laughed.

"I wouldn't say I'm cuter." She said what Shuichi was going to. "And Kokichi and Shuichi's names are similar too."

Well that was true. Shuichi frowned, not sure if he felt comfortable with that one.

"Yeah but-" Kaede fumbled over her words and looked to Shuichi and then to Kaida. "Not this similar."

"Yeah, I know." Speaking of the little devil, Kokichi interrupted them. "Kaeda, Kaida. Like that's not gonna get annoying fast. Hopefully one of you gets killed off fast."

Kaida giggled, it looked as if she wasn't fazed by the 'killed off' comment. "We'll get used to it." Kokichi just shrugged and continued on his journey to the Dining Hall.

"Uh.." Kaida frowned, feeling uncomfortable at the silence. "Are you okay?"

"Oh! Uh-" Shuichi blushed and reached for his hat, placing it on his haed. "Ye-Yeah..."

Kaida's face twisted into sympathy and she walked over to sit down next to him.

"I'm.. sorry about Kaeda.." Everyone knew that him and Kaeda were really close, despite only knowing each other for a few days. The first Class Trial had left them all a little stunned and.. full of despair. Kaida took a shaky breath.

"Um... I just.." Shuichi was sturggling with the words trying to escape his mouth. "I just can't help but wonder if it was the right thing to do..."

"If you hadn't of, we would of been dead." Kaida frowned. Despite how much she liked Kaeda, she wasn't sure if she would die for her. "Including you."

".. But what if I'm.. we're not worth it.."

His sorrowful words left her silent. She wasn't very good at consoling the grieving...

"... How's your cheek?" She asked instead, moving her hand over to his face.

"Ah!" He had to fight himself to not recoil away. "I-It's okay-"

"Kaito was stupid for punching you." Kaida frowned, remembering that idiot. "I mean, we were all..." She took a shaky breath and then flopped down onto the grass. "Tensions were high, is all."

Shuichi glanced down at her. Kaida was... a scary force to be reckoned with. He couldn't dream she would be dangerous, but her title as Ultimate Actress would prove to be hard to fight against in future class trials...

 _Future class trials?_ Shuichi found himself disgusted at the thought. "No that's wrong!" He suddenly shouted to himself, making Kaida jump.

"I-.. I'm pretty sure Kaito was stupid-"

"No not that." Shuichi frowned at his hands. "It's just- I won't let Kaeda die in vain- I won't let there be anymore class tirals... I'll get us all out here."

 _W.. Where did that sudden burst of energy come from?_ Kaida blinked at him, a little stunned at the switch. She took a breath before smiling at him.

"That's right!" She sat up. "She wouldn't want you sitting here, wishing to die in her place. She would want you to fight! Kick Monokuma in the balls!"

Shuichi laughed nervously. Kaida had been quite well spoken before now- that was weird.

Suddenly as if on cute the black and white bear popped out of the long grass with a hearty "RAWR".

Kaida's scream echoed all the way to the garden and she latched herself onto Shuichi, who had let out a similar screech.

"Puhuhuh- Already found yourself a rebound, eh Shuichi?"

"Wh-Wh..wh.." Shuichi's face was a bright red, but whether that was from his girly scream or Monokuma's remark was a mystery.

"I-It's not like that!" Kaida snapped at him. For a moment she had to stop herself to not kick the bear.

"Really? Because to me it seems like you two have been _rolling around in the grass_ if you know what I mean~"

Shuichi blinked, still a little too stunned from the scare to process what in the hell was happening. Kaida crossed her arms and glared at the monochromatic bear.

"Now you're just trying to get a reaction out of us. Why would we hook up here if we were gonna hook up anywhere?"

"Be~caaause~" Of course Monokuma had a response for this. "Everyone knows public intercourse is far more exciting! Ba-dump~ Ba-dump~ Shrouded by the grass as your instincts take over~" The bear's face reddened and he began sweating profusely. "Who wouldn't want that?!"

Kaida rolled her eyes and stood up, dusting off the grass from her leggings. "Anyway.. I'm heading back to the dorms."

"Oh that reminds me." Shuichi ignored Monokuma and turned his attention to Kaida. She could see the detective determination in his eyes. "Why were you out so late?"

"I don't feel comfortable sleeping in normal clothes." Kaida looked down at her outift. "So I was looking in the warehouse for pajamas... And well- it turned into a scavenger hunt by the end of it. The warehouse is huuuge."

"You could always sleep in the nu~ude~" Monokuma egged on. Kaida shot him a glare and the bear looked a little dejected, before making his exit.

"What counts as normal clothes..?" Shuichi asked.

"I just wanted a t-shirt. But I wasn't able to find any. I was getting a little scared being in the school by myself at night so I can't say my search was thorough."

"... Well." Shuichi stood up, dusting himself off. "I can let you borrow one of my shirts for the night?"

"Would you?~" To be honest Shuichi had imagined for her to decline. After all sharing a shirt seemed more like a boyfriend thing.. In the end Shuichi's face turned red instead. "Aww." Kaida laughed at him. "Lookit that blush~" With that his face reddened more and he had to avert his gaze. "It's just a shirt." She turned to head back to the dorms. "Nothing else."

"Ye-Yeah, I know..!" He couldn't help but raise his voice as he raced to catch up with her. Even if he wanted, right now there was only one girl on his mind...


	2. Chapter 2

Once back in her room, Kaida flopped down on the bed. It was.. strange that she had gotten so used to this room already... She felt like sleeping. Her body urged her to sleep.. But everytime she closed her eyes she couldn't help but see Kaeda's hanging body above the large piano keys... With the memory the young actress shot up and walked over to the table in front of the TV, that to no surprise didn't show anything. She unloaded the items she got back from the warehouse, along with the shirt Shuichi loaned her.

"That was sweet of him." She smiled, running her hand over the white shirt. It was just one of the button down shirts that he wore under his jacket, but it would do. She ran a hand over the white material, her smile fading at the memory of Kaeda...

"Do you like Shuichi?" She had asked the pianist on one of their brunch dates. Kaeda nearly choked on her tea and gave her a shaky laugh.

"W-Wha... No no! I just met him, that would be.. kooky." Her blushing face betrayed her words. Kaida laughed and plopped another cube of sugar in her tea.

"Why would it be?" Kaida took a sip of the sweetened tea. The taste was enough to make her swoon~ How long had it been since she had sweet tea? Without someone yelling at her for it that is.

"Because-B-Because I don't think this "love at first sight" junk actually exists." Kaeda defended herself. "And y'know, finding someone you like in a place like this.. It's a little unheard of, don't you think?"

"Not really." Kaida traced little hearts into the table with her finger. "I've acted in tons of things, y'know."

"Hahah, Humblebrag much? We all know you're the Ultimate Actress." Kaeda teased her but Kaida blushed at the mention. Despite how much she acted, it was still embarrassing to be called the Ultimate Actress...

"I-I mean.." She took a nervous sip of her tea, averting her eyes. "In movies, and plays, and anime.. You always see romances forming under these kinds of situations.."

"That's correct!" Kiyo's sudden entrance made Kaida scream in surprise, her tea splattering all over her white outfit.

"Shhhit!" The Ultimate Actress rose to her feet, the chair hitting the floor in a loud clatter. Kiyo laughed in that creepy laugh of his and Kaida shot him a glare.

"Oh what a beautiful sight to see Ms. Perfect get startled~"

"I never said I was perfect!" Kaida shouted at him, which just triggered more creepy laughter.

"Anyway, as I was saying... In LIfe or Death situations, romances seem to blossom even more beautifuly. It's just instinct to find someone to love and nurture when life could be cut at any moment~"

"Yeah, but it's not." Kaeda took a breath. She was trying to hold back giggles at Kaida's glares at Kiyo. She resembled a cat who had been startled. "We're gonna get outta here. All of us. Alive." Kaeda's determination was brimming brightly. Kiyo snickered and turned on his heels to leave the dining hall.

"Your determination is beautiful, Kaeda... But your despair will be just as beautiful."

Kaida lifted off her shirt, replacing it with Shuichi's... She knew that Kaeda had a crush on Shuichi. It wasn't hard to notice. She brought the material over her nose and took a sniff. It smelled like him...

"I'll protect him for you." Kaida whispered to herself. No, she whispered it to Kaeda, who was definitely watching over them. Her and Rantaro... "I'll protect them all." She said with confidence.. She sat on her knees in front of the table and began to work.

The Morning Announcement came too fast. The Monokubs' rantings were almost infuriating so early in the morning... Kaida raised herself out of bed and stretched. After sluggishly getting ready, and grabbing the pretty wrapped box Kaida made her escape to the Dining Hall.

"Eh?" Kaida blinked at the people who had arrived. Everyone, except for Shuichi seemed to have shown up... "W.. Where's Shuichi?" Kaida's words were quiet in the ruckus as everyone spoke to each other. Luckily Kaito was nearby and heard her stammer.

"Shuichi?" The tall astronaut frowned and scanned the room. "Huh.. Guess he isn't here yet. I'll go get 'em, don't you worry!" He patted Kaida on the head and then left the room to bring the Ultimate Detective forth.

"Why even bother if he doesn't want to show up." Kokichi's eyes lit up when he saw Kirumi bring out the food. "Wooww, that looks yummy!"

"B-Because.. aren't you the least bit worried..? Two of our friends were killed yesterday..!" She knew Kokichi was a little... eccentric in this situation, but this was just beyond Kaida's understanding.

"Correction." Kokichi stabbed a chopstick into the food Kirumi sat out for him. Kirumi's face twisted in disgust but she hid it a second later and went to bring forth the other dishes. "One of our friends were murdered." He then picked up the chopstick and began eating. With a full mouth he continued speaking. "And then a murderer was punished!" His voice was muffled with the food. Kaida frowned and gripped the nicely wrapped box in her hand.

"Kaeda was our friend..!"

"Maybe yours..." He then noticed the box in her hand and sprang over to her in a few light hearted steps. "What's that? I wanna see! Lemme see!" He went to snag the box from her but Kaida quickly lifted it up as high as she could to avoid it being captured. Sadly though, Kaida was a shortie, one of the shortest actors she knew, standing at least an inch or two below the 5'1" Kokichi...

The boy snagged the box from her even after Kaida's attempt.

"A present?! Oooh, what's inside!" Kokichi's eyes brightened with curiosity and mischief as he went to untie the present.

"Wa-Wait..!" Kaida reached out to snag the box away but Kokichi was faster, stepping away from the short actress.

"Aren't Actresses supposed to be.. tall and pretty?" He scowled down at her, all playfulness gone from his face. "And y'know, good at acting."

Kaida flinched at his words, biting back a snarky remark and went to grab the box again. "P-Please give it back..!"

"Kokichi, that is very ungentlemanlike..! Please return Kaida's gift!" Gonta's strong voice was the first to comment on the commotion that suddenly out broke.

"She can do it herself!" Kokichi snapped.

"Yeah, I'm sure she could give a nice BJ to get it back!" Miu's perverted laugh shrilled through the room and Keebo winced.

"N-Now I don't think we should start the morning with profanities..."

"I'm sure you'd like it if you could actually feel something from it." Miu snarked at him. "I'm sure I could help with that~"

"Hey, bitchlet, shut the fuck up!" Kokichi snapped suddenly. Kaida took this chance to lunge forward to take her gift but Kokichi yet again saw her and twisted around her.

"Ah ah, not that easy." He looked down at the box and untied the pretty bow she tied before. "Anyway, what's in here~"

"No..!" Kaida's shoulders slumped, a look of defeat overwhelming her face. Kokichi raised an eyebrow at her, looking fed up.

"Now I know you can lie better than that.. Maybe if you come at me truthfully this would be a little more fu-Ah!" Suddenly a hand pushed Kokichi's head down, and an arm reached down to snag the gift from his hands.

"What the hell is going on?!" Kaito's voice boomed through the dining hall. Shuichi peeked past Kaito, giving a small wave.

The room fell silent and aside from Kaida's pants and Kokichi's insults.

"Uh.." Shuichi frowned under their looks. "G-Good morning.."

"What's with the looks? I mean I know I'm awesome but-" Kaito frowned and looked around.

"Shuichi, your hat~" Tsumugi was the first to comment on the obvious. Shuichi blushed under everyone's eyes and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, I didn't even notice." Kaito looked at Shuichi then shoved him towards the table. "Ah whatever. Let's grub down!"

A few more of the students commented on Shuichi's hat, but otherwise everyone fell into a rhythm of eating. After Kaito returned her gift, Kaida had excused herself outside of the dining hall to try to fix the box.

"Damnit.." She cursed down at the box. "Just let him wait and see, I'll pound his stupid face into the ground.." She sighed and fixed the box as much as she could. At least nothing was broken inside. It wasn't necessarily a secret on what it was, and since Shuichi wasn't wearing his hat it was probably stupid anyway... Kaida sighed, looking around at the moss eaten hallway...

Even here she struggled to fit in it seemed...

"Hey, Kaida." Shuichi's voice made her jolt and she quickly turned to look at him.

"S-Shuichi?! A-Aren't you eating breakfast..?"

"Um, yeah." He glanced back at the loud dining hall and shut the door, leaving Kaida and him alone in the hall. "I heard Kokichi was bothering you- something about a gift... is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah." Kaida grew quiet, her voice soft. "I just..." She pushed the gift at him. "It's for you."

Shuichi looked stunned, his hands barely able to fumble the small gift. "F-F.. For me..? But why?"

"... Um... It's not.. a traiditional gift so to sorts so I wouldn't get your hopes up." Kaida averted her gaze. "I'm not interested in romance and junk. But I want to help you through your grief..."

"Oh.." It was almost like a slap in the face. He had been so distracted with the breakfast conversations that he had deluded himself into forgetting about that.

"You shouldn't forget about her. And you should brandish your love and friendship with her like a trophy." Kaida began monologing as Shuichi opened the box. "I-I'm.. decent at making crafts. Especially pins and buttons... And.."

Shuichi raised the contents of the box. It was a pristine, glossy pin of a maple leaf. It was beautiful, even under the dim light of the hallway.

"Kaeda means maple... I was just.. thinking that maybe you could put it on your hat..." Kaida pointed out a matching pin on her beret. "But well.. I guess you're not wearing it."

Shuichi fell into a deep silence. His heart ached remembering Kaeda and the finale of the class trial the day before... his hands cupped the pin, his face downcast. Wet tears fell onto the pristine metal of it, and Shuichi's shoulders shook.

"... I-I'm sorry, I thought it would help!" Kaida went to grab the pin from him. "I-I can take it back.."

"No." Shuichi moved his hands away and moved to wipe the tears from his eyes. He then carefully moved, sticking the pin on his coat, near his heart. "I love it. Thank you." He gave her a sad smile, tears still hanging on his eyelashes. "You're right. I should remember her for who she was and not be sad for her death... I'm sure I'll be fine with time." Despite the apparant sadness in his voice, his smile was strong.

Kaida took a breath and pulled her hands back, holding them to her chest.

"We'll be fine. We just can't let there be another murder... never."

Shuichi gave a confident nod.

"But that would be boring!" The dining hall door slammed open and Shuichi yelped, taking a few steps away from the outswinging door.

Kokichi frowned at them, looking like a child who was just told no.

"The trials are so fun! I'm honestly excited for the next one!"

Shuichi opened his mouth to snap at Kokichi, but Kaida put her hand on his shoulder to silence him.

"Why are they fun?" She asked simply. Kokichi opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again... He did this a few times, unable to put his emotions into words for a moment. He then gave his usual laugh.

"Nee-hehehe~ Do I really need a reason? It's just fun! You can't describe why you like a song on the radio can you?"

"Yes, I can." Kaida raised an eyebrow at him. She was still upset over his 'game' in the dining hall. Kokichi caught her look and returned it with his own mischevious look.

"Aww, are you mad?" He then put on an innocent look. "Not at me though, riiiight?"

He was trying to aggrivate her on purpose.

 **And it was working**

"Kokichi, can you like-" Kaida bit her tongue to stop her words and she huffed. Even in this killing game setting, she had to play her role. "Please leave?"

Kokichi caught her act and raised his eyebrows in victory.

"Yeah, yeah~" He snickered to himself and started walking away. He seemed to be done with breakfast...

"... I can't seem to wrap my mind on what goes on in his head..." Shuichi muttered to himself. Kaida sighed.

"He makes me tired." She muttered. "Oh!" Her sudden exclaimation made Shuichi jump. Kaida quickly apologized before continuing with what she was going to say. "I'll check out the warehouse a bit more today. I'll give you back your shirt if I find anything."

"Sharing shirts?" This time it was Miu's turn to interrupt. "Man, the lewd comments I could make for that!" She laughed hard. Kaida thought for a moment she would just ignore it but- "I bet you all just got htem mixed up while doing something else~" Kaida just rolled her eyes.

"I bet she could teach you tons of things, Shuichi! Actresses aren't saints afterall~" With more laughter Miu finally left- probably to go to her lab that was recently opened.

Shuichi's face was a slight pink tint and Kaida felt a sting of shame.

"... That's not true." She assured him. Shuichi looked offended.

"O-Of course it isn't, I know that..!" His face grew more red as he tried harder to defend himself. Finally Kaida rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Anyway. I'm off." She patted him on the shoulder and passed him to head to the warehouse. "I'll see ya later, Shuichi~"

"Y-Yeah, later, Kae..." His voice trailed off. His tongue had betrayed him, _her_ name almost escaped instead of Kaida's... Kaida turned to look at him.

"Call me Ai." She smiled. "I know our names are super similar. Ai can just be your special nickname for me."

"Ah no way does just Shuichi get to be the only one to call you that!" Kaito had just stepped into their conversation. He was grinning from ear to ear in a way only Kaito could. "I'mma call you that too, kay Ai?" His phrasing was in a way that was more of a demand... Kaida frowned. It was only a nickname she thought of last minute for just Shuichi...

"No way am I gonna let a degenerate male call you that!" Tenko's shout pushed through Kaito's and she pushed her way out of the dining hall, shielding a path for the indifferent Himiko. "Not unless I'm allowed to as well!" She looked to Kaida and almost seemed embarrassed. Kaida gave a small sigh defeat.

"Yeah yeah, do what you want.." She turned and gave the small group a wave.

Kaida sighed and shut the warehouse door behind her.

She didn't do nicknames.. She was willing to let Shuichi call her 'Ai' just because he always seemed to hesitate at her name.. It did sound a lot like Kaeda. And "Ai" seemed to be the best bet..

If she knew that it would be brandished on her profile she wouldn't of brought it up! In frustration the Ultimate Actress kicked a box of Shot Put Balls.

"Dammit!" She yelled out as loud as she could. Her aggravated voice echoed back to her ears. It sounded... so ugly.

She frowned to herself and took a deep breath to compose herself.

 _It's just a nickname._ She reminded herself. It could be worse. _Like whore_ She thought bitterly to herself. The thought left a bitter sting.

"Keep cool. That's how you'll avoid it." She told herself. With another deep breath she began her search through the warehouse.


End file.
